It's Typhoon Season

A fierce storm and dangerous wave.

Okay, it’s not really typhoon season. At least not in New England. But it sure feels like it.

In all my life, I’ve never experienced so much turmoil and uncertainty in our federal government—certainly not in the judicial branch. Statewide, things are so hot either. My workplace is also crazy, largely because of the need to respond to the widely tumultuous external environment. Chaos seems to reign from the top of the food chain to the bottom.

Walking against the storm

My home life hasn’t been much better. Two of my televisions—yes, two—spontaneously stopped working at the same time. My refrigerator decided to stop closing tightly and refused to stay cold. In addition, for some unfathomable reason my electric bill states my usage has inexplicably doubled since this time last year. Shall we also talk about the rising costs of everything else?

I’ve been trying to figure out what I can do to restore and maintain a sense of calm in my life and in my stressed out body. One important thing for me to do is to get back to my routines and to do lists. I should not let disruption in the outside world disrupt my peace. I’ve learned that breathing intentionally calms and soothes me. I need to make sure I give myself 5-10 minutes everyday to focus on breathing exercises.

What do you do to help you face the storm outside?

A Comedy of Measurements

In a particularly irritating moment of “you gotta be kidding,” two of our televisions died simultaneously. The one in the kitchen lost sound and had lines through the picture, and the screen on the one in the bedroom went black. We quickly realized that repairing them would not be much cheaper than replacing them (as a sign of the times, I suppose). So, we replaced them with slightly upgraded models of the same size.

The exact size, no logistical issues, right? Wrong! The feet on the one in the bedroom were placed differently than on its predecessor, and consequently, they were beyond the edges of the dresser. We spent the rest of the day and well into the night rearranging furniture until we found a table that fit the TV.

Except the table didn’t fit in the cutout space; it just had to fit. Cue the ridiculousness. Picture two middle-aged, out-of-shape women pulling, lifting, tugging, and rolling around on the floor to fit a big peg into a too-small hole.

The bad news: Neither of us is built for that kind of hard labor. By the time we set up the TV and conquered the beast of our destruction, we were exhausted and broken.

The good news is the TV is lovely. Moreover, we’re giving ourselves the gift of slowly putting the rest of the house together so we can redecorate and rejuvenate our space. All’s well that ends with optimism.

It's Always the First Day of School

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Today was the first day of the semester. As an educator, the rhythm is the same as it ever was—the year starts in September, the world takes a break during December and early January, and then things wind up again until May or June.

This half of the year is always worse than the first half in academia. I don’t know why. It just is. You can see it on the student’s faces and in their slow shuffle to classes. I can feel it in my bones as my workload gets heavier in a way that eclipses the Fall semester.

But for now, things aren’t too bad. The parking was ludicrous and the copier didn’t work. The students were awake and more engaged than usual on the first day. My first day stage fright persisted. Thankfully, no one noticed.

Do any of you educators still experience getting nervous on the first day?

Did Your First Kiss Defy Gravity?

I'll never forget my first kiss.

It was Christmas Day and we'd had a great food and scrabble-filled time as usual. My mom's best friend aka my godmother had come and brought her children and a relative's kid, Joseph, who was visiting from Israel. He was older than me by a few years, and had the blondest hair and bluest eyes I'd ever seen. He looked like a model. To me, anyway. (Years later my sister told me he was not as smoking hot as I'd thought.)

At the end of the day, as was our custom, we went to the movies while the adults stayed back, as happy to get rid of us for a few hours as we were to leave. We chose a newly released action movie that year, but the show never mattered.

Joseph flirted with me the entire movie. I had no idea how to filrt back, but my heart raced with his interest. At some point, he leaned over the arm of the seats and kissed my cheek. When I turned to look at him, he touched his lips to mine and then he REALLY kissed me. 

I remember the two of us levitating above our seats, oblivious to the screen and anyone else in the room. We kissed until the movie ended and we floated down to our seats.

He went back to Israel and I never saw him again. We wrote for a little while but as these things do, it faded after a while. But he will always be the star in one of my favorite memories, and the person who taught me how to kiss.

I hope you remember yours as vividly. I'd love to hear all about it. I'll add responses to my next email (Unless you'd rather I didn't add yours.)  

trevann@trevannrogers.com 

Happy 2025. May we all collect new heart-fluttering memories. In a good way, of course.

Waiting For the Son

"You might need to store up a Power reserve. There could be a big battle ahead of you, and you need to be prepared."

Chey turned around and looked into his lover's eyes.

Were-tiger icy blue bleeding into human brown irises.

Zander's tiger wanted to play. Power vibrated beneath Chey's skin.

"Then save me."

Chey and Zander, Waiting for the Son

Do You Believe in Magic

When I was young, my mom's yard was a paradise. It was lined with majestic trees, lush grass, and flowers. You could just see the love she put into those flowers.

The centerpiece of the front yard was a Mimosa Tree. It was stunning. I spent a lot of time with that tree, doing the usual things like sitting under it reading or playing, or working up my courage to climb it to the first big branch. 

I have a secret. I flew under that tree. Yes, I did! You don't have to believe me; it's true. I would grab hold of its thick trunk, and then jump up with all my might! Somehow, my body would stay in the air, perfectly horizontal. I would close my eyes and feel the breeze flow over my body. 

When I let go of the tree, I'd stay in the air for a few precious moments before I thudded to the ground. The fall knocked the wind out of me, but I didn't cry or complain.  I knew magic when I saw it.

I still do. Clouds are magical. Friendship is magic. Love, true and abiding, is magical. Babies, from conception and beyond, are magical. Heck, sometimes chocolate mousse is magical.

We're going to need all the help we can get as time marches forward. Lots of changes ahead, crises as well as opportunities.  We'll need  family and friends so that we can wrap ourselves in community. 

I'm glad I still believe in magic. Do you?

Winter Dreams

For many years I've had a dream of going away for the winter holidays. There'd be snow on the ground and more on the way. I'd sit on a bench with my sweetie, drinking hot chocolate until our fingers grew cold, then we'd head inside to sit by the fireplace reading.

We thought we'd done it one year.  My partner and I traveled to Vermont to stay at the Trapp Family Lodge for a weekend. It was snowy and beautiful. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. A huge storm was brewing back home, and my dogsitter didn't think she'd be able to be with my puppies. We packed up and left in the middle of the night, just beating the arrival of the storm.

My puppies were safe and sound, but I never had the peaceful, snowy, holiday I've always wanted. I'm still aiming for it. Stay tuned.

Do you have a winter dream? i'd love to hear it?

Do You Believe in Magic?

When I was young, my mom's yard was a paradise. It was lined with majestic trees, lush grass, and flowers. You could just see the love she put into those flowers.

The centerpiece of the front yard was a Mimosa Tree. It was stunning. I spent a lot of time with that tree, doing the usual things like sitting under it reading or playing, or working up my courage to climb it to the first big branch. 

I have a secret. I flew under that tree. Yes, I did! You don't have to believe me; it's true. I would grab hold of its thick trunk, and then jump up with all my might! Somehow, my body would stay in the air, perfectly horizontal. I would close my eyes and feel the breeze flow over my body. 

When I let go of the tree, I'd stay in the air for a few precious moments before I thudded to the ground. The fall knocked the wind out of me, but I didn't cry or complain.  I knew magic when I saw it.

I still do. Clouds are magical. Friendship is magic. Love, true and abiding, is magical. Babies, from conception and beyond, are magical. Heck, sometimes chocolate mousse is magical.

We're going to need all the help we can get as time marches forward. Lots of changes ahead, crises as well as opportunities.  We'll need  family and friends so that we can wrap ourselves in community. 

I'm glad I still believe in magic. Do you?

Have an enchanted weekend.

The Universe and Me

Do you ever wonder about the meaning of life? How it all fits together? I am often compelled to think these things when I see a particularly spectacular cloud. It always occurs to me that this magnificence didn’t get here by accident. There has to be some complex plan that allows for these puffs of water and vapor to hang in the sky. And the patterns…artistic master pieces.

And the sea. It is a body you can’t see the end of. Your eyes just travel over the ripples and waves only to find more ripples and waves, over and over until all you have is that virtuals line that touches the sky. It’s a wonder to me how much I am soothed by the ocean, its sounds and rhythms. And it’s to just water. Have you heard of forest bathing. There are actual studies like this one that show that spending time immersed in the forest benefits us physiologically and psychologically. How cool is it that Mother Nature has rigged parts of the world to just calm us and remind us of our place here.

Sometimes, I just get smacked in the head with the beauty and expanse of nature. I'm but a small pebble in the vastness of the universe. Does that make me inconsequential? Sometimes it feels that way, compared to the forests and the oceans and the clouds. But maybe my glimmer, combined with all of the other precious pebbles, is what makes the universe beautiful.

#currentmood #justthinking #authorlife#truthbetold #urbanfantasyauthorcommunity#urbanfantasyauthor

October Thoughts

Probably a remnant of my childhood, the fall signals a new beginning to me. It’s time for rethinking my plans, choices, and priorities.

I want to focus on taking better care of myself. I’m realizing that I can’t take good care of those I love if I’m depleted, or ill, or exhausted mentally or physically. So I need to do better at three things.

• Meditation. For me, it’s taking a few minutes to close my eyes and breathe deeply. It’s amazing the positive impact this has on me. Why I don’t do it routinely is a mystery.

• Eating mindfully. I was doing great at this until a couple of weeks ago. I’m so easily derailed. I’ve got to do better.

• Exercising. I feel so good when I exercise. Part of it is how proud I am of myself. I want to feel that again.

I start tonight. What about you? What’s your focus for October?

Vacation Anxiety

Do you get anxious before a vacation? I do. It starts with the packing. It is never easy to determine what is enough (so you don’t run out of anything critical, like underwear), and what is much much more than you need..

Inevitably, I forget something critical AND overpack.

My ideal vacation activity.

I also worry about work prior to vacation. I don’t want to work while I’m away. But my experience has always been that you work twice as hard before you go, and three times as hard when you return. For a a variety of reasons, I do not want to work while I am away. What if I get an important call or email? Do I respond? What will happen if I don’t.

This summer, I vow to do things differently.I’m not taking my laptop. I’m going to let critical people know that I’m going to be inaccessible for a few days. I’m going to plan reading and writing and resting, so work has a lower chance of intruding.

No matter how I fret, once I’m on the road I’m ready to relax and have a good time. Forgotten underwear be damned!

Does pre-vacation stress you out? Or is it just me?

Waiting for the Son

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